Review Detail

I was browsing around Tumblr attempting to find like-minded souls the other day, and I came across the blog “Fairy Tale Mood”, which is curated by author Sarah Cross. I followed the links to her personal blog, on which I found out about her newest novel, “Kill Me Softly.” It is a fairy tale retelling, so of course I had to read it, and I immediately downloaded it onto my Kindle app and dug in.

Allow me to preface this by saying that I have readmanyfairy-tale retelling as “research” for my own novel, “The Spirit Thief” (available on Kindle in August). I have read very good retellings (“Beauty” by Robin McKinley) and very bad retellings (“Mermaid” by Carolyn Turgeon). I was eager to discover into which category “Kill Me Softly” would fall, and it was clear quite early that it fell into the “good” category.

The story begins with Mirabelle Lively and her two godmothers, who are bickering about what color to make her birthday cake - pink or blue. Though it is simply portrayed as completely natural and the portraits of the two godmother are so well drawn, it immediately sets the tone for where this book is heading (because of course, anyone who has seen the Disney version of “Sleeping Beauty” recognizes the ‘pink vs. blue’ argument). Mira decides to run away to her birthplace, where she believes her parents died in a fire at her christening party. She has always longed to see Beau Rivage, although she has been kept from going there by her godmothers. She leaves an impressive rabbit trail for her godmothers to follow while she runs off to Beau Rivage.

While in Beau Rivage, Mira discovers her true identity and destiny as a fairy tale Somnolent, and she finds herself making friends with a variety of residents of Beau Rivage, all of whom have different fairy tale destinies that they are bound to follow. Mira also falls in with Felix Valentine, the owner of a casino in town called “The Dream”. His younger brother, Blue, and the rest of Mira’s new friends warn her to stay away from him, but they will not tell her why. Mira refuses to let go of her ‘love’ for Felix, but she can’t help but feel attracted to Blue as well. Though the fairy tale destinies of her new friends are revealed, Blue and Felix’s story remains a mystery because it may not be spoken of. As her sixteenth birthday draws closer, Mira begins to fear her destiny and wonder how she could ever possibly fit in in Beau Rivage.

Overall, the story was very well-written. I think my favorite part of the writing would be the dialogue between the young characters. It came across as natural and unforced, and I did laugh out loud sometimes. I also found that the characters were developed nicely. Though everyone had their ‘destinies’ and fairy tales that they belonged to, they each tried to fight their stories and struggled to still be themselves in the face of their fates. I would say my least favorite character was Freddie, who was an Honor-bound prince. He was so soft and ‘guileless’ that it was difficult to like him. I preferred his brother, Wills, who didn’t seem so naive. Mira drove me crazy at times, but I didn’t mind because I often like stories best when the main character doesn’t always make the right choices despite everything that she is told. There was so much wrong about her relationship with Felix that I couldn’t believe she couldn’t see it for herself … but that was what made her believable and honest.

This may be personal on my part, but I do sort of wish that the revelations of the characters had been a bit more subtle. As I said before, I have read so many fairy tales and retellings of them that I can recognize them quickly, and I would have appreciated more subtlety during the introductions of some of the characters. For example, I knew instantly who Viv, Layla, Rafe, and Jewel were. I think Mira’s fate was revealed at a decent pace (I didn’t want to make any assumptions about her), and Blue and Felix definitely kept me guessing. I realize once I reached the end that Ihadspeculated about their fate, but I hadn’t really been sure until all the facts came out. So, the author did a great job there.

I think my biggest critique about the whole book would be the ending. It wasn’t completely unsatisfying, but I felt like it was a bit unfinished. The bad guy wasn’t completely defeated and the truth about Mira’s parents was never resolved. The author hasn’t revealed yet that she plans a sequel to “Kill Me Softly”, though she’s indicated that she may write other books located in Beau Rivage. Perhaps she plans to address these unsolved issues in those follow-ups, if not a direct sequel. Like I said, I wasn’t upset when I finished reading the book, but I did feel that there were some loose ends that were not tied up. Other than that, I enjoyed the book and definitely think it’s worth reading if you’re interested in fairy tale retellings - it takes a new, fresh, and modern approach to the genre. It is certainly on my list of books to recommend.